K-19: The Widowmaker 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

K-19: The Widowmaker 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

My colleague Marty Liebman reviewed Paramount's release of Kathryn Bigelow's K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) nearly fourteen years ago. To read Marty's analysis of the film and this region-free BD, please click here.

Capt. Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) and Capt. Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) salute the motherland.

K-19: The Widowmaker 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select's new two-disc release of K-19 comes with a slipcover that houses a 4K Ultra HD disc and a Blu-ray. (While the BD's center placeholder was not chipped or broken on my copy during shipment, the disc was dislodged. The placeholder doesn't hold the BD well because it doesn't really stay.) Both transfers of the feature are sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative. While I don't own the Paramount disc that Marty reviewed (or the two Warner Bros. reissues), I do have a 2011 Blu-ray from German studio Universum Film, which is likely the same transfer. I watched the three transfers three days in a row. K-19 appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of about 2.39:1. The 4K comes with Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). Marty wrote that the 2010 Blu-ray is "nicely filmic in texture." I would reaffirm that description, especially regarding the 4K image. Not only is it thickly textured, but it also boasts an abundance of film grain that is stable and well-balanced throughout the frame. In the rehashed audio commentary, cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth notes that K-19 was shot in Super 35 mm using the silver retention process, which skips the bleach process. He adds that this results in a richer black and a more desaturated image. Marty griped that black levels "sometimes crush details around the frame." Fortunately, I didn't spot any black crush on Shout's two transfers. Marty also observed: "blacks and several other shots are sometimes dotted with some errant noise." Noise is not a problem on the new master Shout used.

The biggest improvement is the skin tones. Whereas they're pale and gray on the old transfer (see Screenshot #11), color definition is much more pronounced on the 4K DI prepared for the UHD and Blu-ray (see frame grab #s 12-13). Additionally, faces have a noticeably warmer complexion (see screen capture #s 15-16, 21-22, and 24-25).

Texture, grain, and detail are superior on the UHD compared to the two Blu-rays. For example, the HDR brings out a more saturated blue on the map on the 4K versus the cooler blue on the Blu-rays (see #s 35-37). I upscaled the 2K image to 4K on Shout's 1080p disc, which is still very clear and sharp in its own right. But you will definitely notice a difference in the areas I've noted above when you watch them back-to-back on your display. The recent transfers show some very small speckles. These only pop up a few times.

The BD-100 boasts an average video bitrate of 81.8 Mbps while the full disc carries an overall bitrate of 91.4 Mbps. Shout's BD-50 has a mean video bitrate of 34.8 Mbps, nearly identical to Paramount and Universum's 34.9 Mbps on its Blu-rays.

Screenshot #s 1-10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, & 40 = Shout Select 2024 4K Ultra HD (downsampled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, & 38 = Universum Film 2011 2K-scanned Blu-ray
Screenshot #s 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, & 39 = Shout Select 2024 4K-scanned Blu-ray

Twelve scene selections accompany the 138-minute feature.

K-19: The Widowmaker 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (4280 kbps, 24-bit) and an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (2051 kbps, 24-bit) on the UHD and BD. The audio bitrates are identical on the Blu-ray. On Paramount's English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround track (3885 kbps, 24-bit), Marty found dialogue delivery to be "consistently stable," which I would echo on both of Shout's mixes. Marty's observation that "the pressure of water against the hull is nicely realized" is particularly apparent on the 5.1 mix. When the underwater camera frames exteriors of the K-19 submarine, I could hear water rippling along the surround channels while the pump jets move swiftly along. Marty is correct that the .LFE is not used much. I also listened to the English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 Surround mix (2419 kbps, 16-bit) on Universum's Blu-ray and feel that Shout's uncompressed 5.1 is a little more active and aggressive.

Composer Klaus Badelt came up with some traditional Russian orchestral pieces that sound warm on both mixes. Badelt had recently come off arranging and producing Hans Zimmer's score for Gladiator (2000), which is excerpted in K-19's theatrical trailer. There's a strong likelihood that Gladiator was part of the temporary score. There's dramatic underscore in K-19 that sounds like it was lifted from "The Battle," a ten-minute piece that Zimmer composed for Gladiator.

Re-recording mixer Walter Murch integrates selections from a half-dozen pieces that were part of Richard Einhorn's opera/oratorio Voices of Light written for Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc. A pastiche of Voices of Light accompanies K-19's maritime technicians as they enter and work in the reactor compartment. (I read a feature in the San Francisco Examiner when K-19 first came out that stated Bigelow was developing a film about Joan of Arc that she would have made had Luc Besson not released his movie.)

I watched K-19 with the optional English SDH switched on. They are accurate and complete, including sound effects.

K-19: The Widowmaker 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout has ported over the extras which originated on Paramount's 2002 R1 DVD. All these and several more bonus materials appear on Universum's two-disc DVD "Special Edition" and the German label's later Blu-ray. There's the exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette Backstage (16:41), which shows B-roll footage of several scenes, Bigelow watching them on video assist, and Bigelow directing Peter Sarsgaard. Universum also has the mini-featurettes Harrison Ford (1:38), The Submarine (4:12), Under Pressure (1:43), and Crew Training (2:00). There are also interviews with producer/director Kathryn Bigelow (7:49) as well as actors Harrison Ford (8:43), Liam Neeson (8:50), Peter Sarsgaard (8:00), and Christian Camargo (9:08). These have optional German subtitles and are framed in 1.33:1. While the interviewer asks Bigelow and her actors basically the same set of questions, they are all chatty and talkative. Universum also has a shorter US Trailer (1:01) and several US TV Spots totaling four minutes.

DISC ONE: 4K UHD

• Audio Commentary With Kathryn Bigelow and Jeff Cronenweth - Bigelow and her DP deliver a feature-length track that covers the production of K-19 in some detail. Bigelow recalls several of the shooting days and relates her observations of what occurred on the sets and locations. In English, not subtitled.

• Audio Commentary With Kathryn Bigelow and Jeff Cronenweth - Bigelow and her DP deliver a feature-length track that covers the production of K-19 in some detail. Bigelow recalls several of the shooting days and relates her observations of what occurred on the sets and locations. In English, not subtitled.

• The Making of K-19: The Widowmaker (20:16, 480i) - an EPK program featuring interviews with producer/director Kathryn Bigelow, producer Christine Whitaker, producer Edward S. Feldman, assistant marine coordinator Harry L. Julian, production designer Michael Novotny, art director Arvinder Greywal, producer Sigurjon "Joni" Sighvatsson, screenwriter Christopher Kyle, and marine coordinator Lance H. Julian. We also hear from stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson as well as other actors such as Peter Sarsgaard, Steve Nicolson, Christian Camargo, and Arsenty Sydelnykov. This extended featurette mixes talking heads with B-roll footage and excerpts from K-19. It also shows cast and crew filming in Moscow, a submarine construction crew working in Saint Petersburg, FL, and another crew based in Halifax. In English, not subtitled.

• Exploring the Craft: Make-Up Techniques (5:26, 480i) - special makeup effects artist Gordon Smith describes and demonstrates (in the makeup room with technicians) the prosthetics applied to the actors who portray characters exposed to radiation. Also featured is makeup artist Michael Laudati, who worked on Harrison Ford for a much older version of his character. In English, not subtitled.

• Breaching the Hull (5:10, 480i) - a featurette on the film's special visual effects. We hear from visual effects supervisor Steven Rosenbaum and director of photography for special effects Peter Field. The effects crew demonstrate how they build and deploy miniatures for use in the film. Field also shows how scale model versions of the ice block and snow are created and then manipulated on a computer via select CGI. In English, not subtitled.

• It's in the Details (11:49, 480i) - a featurette about the logistical and technical challenges facing the production. We hear from Bigelow, Ford, cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, property master Deryck Blake, production designer Karl Júlíusson, Sarsgaard, technical advisor Capt. (Ret.) Sergei Aprelev, art director Arvinder Greywal, producer Sigurjon "Joni" Sighvatsson, and actor Peter Stebbings Bigelow describes filming in the reactor compartment. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:33, 1080p) - Paramount's official trailer for K-19: The Widowmaker, which appears in 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen with a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix (192 kbps).

K-19: The Widowmaker 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

K-19: The Widowmaker may not rank with the finest submarine movies but it's a taut thriller and very good character study of oppositional leadership styles. The colors on Shout's 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray are a significant improvement over Paramount's BD. I also feel that the DTS-HD MA 5.1 is at least a moderate upgrade over the old DolbyTrue HD mix (or the lossless 6.1 track on the Universum Blu-ray). Extras duplicate the Paramount and WB discs. If you desire more supplements, the Universum BD is worth purchasing if you can acquire it at a reasonable price. Fans of Bigelow, Ford, and Neeson will want to pick up this package from Shout. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.